Atomic Habits

As with all self-help books, this has a lot of padding. At least from my point of view, I could do without the illustrative anecdotes and get down to the nitty gritty like cue, craving, response, and reward; habit stacking; (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying, etc.

Still, those specific tips on installing the habits you want are really helpful. This is information that'll go into my everyday life to help me take concrete action to progress toward my goals.

One final complaint - though I think this is well worth reading (and is perfect book to buy at Blinkist, where you get a summary of key points), it is absolutely soaking in fat shame and diet culture. Not all, but MANY of the examples use weight loss, calorie counting, and demonizing certain foods as fodder. It would be nice if authors could wake up that these attitudes are really dangerous for a lot of people, and there are so many other examples that could be used!

Gutes Konzept wenn man neue Gewohnheiten annehmen will. Mir fehlt aber ein praktischer Leitfaden

Very good definitely go to his website and use the sources.

I always like to start out the year with a book that I hope can help me make this year better than the last. Even if it's only 1% better. This year that lead-off book is James Clear's Atomic Habits and I have to say this one is fantastic.

You may notice I'm no stranger to the productivity book genre. Often those books have a lot of tidbits in common and while it's not always ground-breaking material, there's usually some redeeming value in the different authors' takes on productivity tips. This book, however, has a lot more practical useful advice than most. Quite a bit of it was new to me, or at least didn't feel like a re-tread. I listened on audiobook, but I have it in hardcover as well, so this is going to be one I pull back out before long, because there is actual implementation advice here that I need to delve into a little deeper.

The concept of 1% better. Habit stacking. Minimizing your new habits. Setting yourself up for success in 4 or 5 different ways. These concepts are gold.

Atomic Habits is worthy.

For some reason this book took me a long time to finish, I think that maybe I was avoiding it because I felt guilty I wasn't creating any new healthy habits while I was reading it. But I did finish it and I can say it deserves all the praise it's got so far. James Clear was able to structure a simple yet powerful process for us to implement new habits, and to help us understand how and why habits impact our lives in weather good or bad. I've definitely included into my life some of the tools and practices he described here. I recommend anyone to read this book along with “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson for a powerful combination.

If I were to recommend you read one book about habits, it's this one. I read a lot of this kind of thing and this is easily the most practical, well-written worth-your-time book in the space. James Clear is brilliant.

Just wow

The book excellently covers the topic of forming good habits and getting rid of bad ones. It contains a lot of insightful thoughts. But it also feels kind of narrow. I expected more high-level material on how to transform your life using habits. Maybe a review of habits of highly successful people. Maybe more real-life cases of how people in different areas used habits to achieve success.

Useful and well written resource

Easily the best book on behaviour change I've come across. Highly recommend for anyone who is working with habits (eg in business or coaching) as well as for personal development.

I really enjoyed this book. James Clear engages the reader with actionable plans and meaningful narrative to make forming habits less like your mom telling you to brush your teeth and more like you enjoying coffee in the morning because you want to.

The book builds on so many other fantastic books and research about how people think, how we engage, how we fight, and how we can use our underlying behavior to make it easier to do the things that we say we want to do.

I would have no qualms about recommending this book to anyone interested in science or power of habit. Graspable for high school and up. If you haven't read the other big titles - Atomic Habits has the references for you to dive in (if you want) and the summary and juicy bits from the perspective of this book (if you don't).

I forgot to review Atomic Habits when I read it a year ago, but it has stuck with me. I'll also say that I love the newsletter that James sends out each week - short and thought provoking.

The author acknowledges that Atomic Habits builds upon some of the content laid out in The Power of Habit, and so if you had to pick one of the two to read, this one is not it!

The one benefit this book provides is that James Clear provides more practical advice on how to build your habits (which The Power of Habit doesn't do).

However Charles Duhigg does a better job of mixing science, facts and small stories about habits to prove his point - you can tell he's the better writer.

“The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If you're proud of how your hair looks, you'll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it. If you're proud of the size of your biceps, you'll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout. If you're proud of the scarves you knit, you'll be more likely to spend hours knitting each week. Once your pride gets involved, you'll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.”

What a doozy of a quote. I guess it pays to be a prideful guy.

Well, it seems luck isn't on my side when it comes to personal development reads, and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear is no exception. Despite the hype surrounding it, I find myself once again let down by a tired, regurgitated pop psychology book that fails to deliver.

The information presented feels like a rehash of what I've stumbled upon in the productivity blogosphere for the past decade. But it's not just the lack of freshness that bothers me—it's the execution. The writing feels robotic, the repetition grows tiresome, and the cherry-picked anecdotes conveniently support the author's points, often taken out of context. Even the scientific references feel shaky and questionable at times.

While the core ideas explored in “Atomic Habits” aren't inherently bad, they've already been covered by other authors with more depth and skill. Writers like Kelly McGonigal and George Leonard come to mind, offering a richer exploration of the subject matter. Frankly, I can't help but feel that the material in this book could have easily been condensed into a blog post or article. Instead, what I encounter is a bloated book filled with unnecessary fluff, making it feel like an extended infomercial for the author's blog. It's evident that this is just another platform to boost his personal brand and generate ‘passive income'.

I guess the world really needed another privileged marketer with an A-type personality telling people they can become like him if they follow his ‘secret formula.' It seems tailor-made for a specific group of individuals—those who aspire to be the lifestyle-hacker extraordinaire, like Tim Ferris, and his devoted followers.

P.S.
I should note that despite my disappointment, I've come across individuals who found value in this book, claiming it transformed their lives. However, in most of those cases, they failed to sustain the new habits they initially adopted and years later it's like they never read the book.

While “Atomic Habits” didn't meet my personal expectations, it may still hold potential for people who are new to the subject or resonate with the author's approach. And hey, if it floats your boat and makes you feel like the captain of your own destiny, who am I to rain on your parade? Happy reading!

As of late I've become pretty obsessed with habits and habit change: it's fascinating to me, the concept of wrangling one's subconscious to serve continuous improvement through simple, proven steps inherent to our neurobiology.

I like this book on habit change because it's well-written and organized in a digestible, and actionable, way. The little vignettes are interesting and helpful to anchor concepts and prevent the book from feeling too much like a “how-to,” even though it absolutely is. It's a quick read so if you're interested in habit change I suggest picking it up!

I read this based on glowing recommendations from people I trust. Turns out it's another repetitive, drawn out self-help book I didn't need.

It delivers what it promises: a pragmatic approach to build good habits

Short. Simple. Clear. To the point. Absolutely recommend you read this if you want to understand why some habits stuck and some you just can't figure out.

Overall it's a good book. When he talks about the concept of keeping small habits. But it's kind of more of the same.

3.5 stars

First book of the new year! Now I just need to figure out WHICH habits I need to start/stop. I mean aside from too much phone/social media obv.

Read it twice, and now i recommend it twice as much!

If things like habit-stacking, environmental aspects related to building habits (or getting rid of some others) or the compounding effect of repetition don't sound familiar, it might be worth giving the book a try. Plus, it's short.

4.5 stars. Lots of useful information on habit formation that I have started implementing and intend to continue to use. The last few chapters, wherein the author attempts to connect his habit framework to mastery, are the weakest and should be taken with a grain of salt. The preceding 17 or so chapters still make this a more than worthwhile read.

I was able to get an advance copy of Atomic Habits and I'm really glad I did! I haven't enjoyed a book about habits this much since The Power of Habit (one of my favorites). I feel like Atomic Habits is sort of the perfect continuation of the idea, looking at some of the ways to create and modify good habits after you understand some of the psychology of how habits begin and work. So if you've read the Power of Habit, you'll probably love this one too.

I'm a fan of James' blog anyway, but I got so much out of Atomic Habits, I took a few pages of notes. Some of the lessons I already know have changed the way I think about things and will help me build healthy habits for the rest of my life.

The book was well organized and had just the right combination of science, practical advice, and personal stories. I know Atomic Habits is a book I'm going to come back to, and I'm sure I'll pick up more with each subsequent reading.

Do a thing for 10,000 hours and you'll eventually be a master at it. But instead of doing it for 10,000 hours straight, just do a little at a time over a long period of time. Don't believe me? Here's an entire book explaining why. 3/5